LARGO — The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport emergency preparedness drill started with a bang.

The drill simulated a scenario where a passenger on board a plane is found to have an explosive. Negotiations fail and the passenger detonates the bomb, leaving emergency responders to put out the fire and evacuate the wounded passengers.

Of course, on Tuesday no explosives were detonated inside the MD-80 airplane that was filled with Pinellas Park High School students and emergency response volunteers posing as victims. However, agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives did set off a small explosion on the adjacent grass field.

Following the detonation, airport fire trucks sprayed down a target on the grass with fire-retardant foam. Then the "walking wounded" volunteers exited single file out of the front of the aircraft while the back was opened for the seriously injured and dead.

Cards worn around the volunteers' necks designated the injuries they suffered from the bomb. Injured volunteers were treated for their simulated wounds by firefighters.

The drill was a cooperative effort between the airport and various local and federal agencies, and involved 50 to 75 first responders and around 100 volunteers. The Federal Aviation Administration requires that all commercial airports conduct an emergency preparedness drill every three years, but the scenario varies. In 2011 the St. Pete-Clearwater and Tampa airports teamed up for a drill simulating a plane crash-landing into the bay.

Pinellas Park High students were thrilled at the opportunity to participate in the event as part of the school's First Responders Program. The program gives students the opportunity to train and work with first responders to open up future career opportunities in the field.

"It was really fun," said Tatjana Lakic, a student in the program who was, unfortunately, labeled as dead during the simulation. "It was a good experience being able to work with firefighters."

More emergency preparedness drills are scheduled for Sarasota and Bradenton airports Wednesday and Tampa International Airport Thursday.

NEW PORT RICHEY — Deputies arrested a Dunedin man on Sunday who was on the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office’s "prolific offender’’ list.James Edward Boyle, 50, was being held Monday in the Pasco County Jail in lieu of $134,300 bail for 11 felony and mis...

RIVERVIEW — When Walter Ballard ran into his buddy Ronnie Oneal four days ago, nothing about him foreshadowed the horror that was to come."He was good," Ballard recalled. "We were just catching up."Then, on Monday night, Ballard got a call from his 1...

TAMPA — Police said they have identified two suspects in a fatal hit-and-run that took the life of an 80-year-old pedestrian who pushed his wife out of harm’s way on Saturday afternoon.Detectives identified Tracy Wood, 31, as the driver and Miriam Ma...

TAMPA — Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies are searching for a Tampa woman who has been missing since she walked out of a hospital emergency room this weekend.Brenda Jatta, 54, walked out of the emergency room at Florida Hospital, 3100 E Fletcher...

TAMPA — A 24-year-old motorcyclist died Monday morning after he lost control on Interstate 275 and was struck by a semi-trailer, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.Josue Adam Vallejo, of Wesley Chapel, was riding southbound on I-275, north of Be...

TAMPA — A veteran circus acrobat fell to his death Saturday during what he told fans was a new routine, one he was performing for the first time."After so much work and training and staging, our straps duo act is finally in the show tonight. It’s tim...

TAMPA — A pair of Tampa police officers went early Monday to arrest a man accused of illegally owning guns.The man, Walter Richard Jeziorski, had a history of mental illness, according to police, and was known to have threatened violence against his ...

Investigators have determined that Pepin Academies executive director Craig Butz was at fault in the Sept. 23 boating accident that took his life.Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigators said the crash was caused by Butz throug...

TAMPA — A Lutz man admits in a federal plea agreement that he stole gift cards out of the mail while working as a letter carrier in Temple Terrace from 2016 to 2017.John Albert Astl, 45, even drove his U.S. Postal Service vehicle while spending some ...

Two days after the last body was removed from a collapsed bridge near FIU, the first civil lawsuit stemming from the tragedy has been filed — and it alleges reckless negligence on the part of the companies that did design and construction.Marquise Ra...